“Arma virumque cano . . .” (I sing of arms and the man). So begins Vergil’s epic poem “The Aeneid”, Latin literature’s answer to Homer. The man in question is Aeneas, the mythical patriarch of the Julian clan, whose manifest destiny (according to the emperor-flattering poet) is to rule the world.

A hero of this stature requires divine ancestry. Aeneas was the son of the goddess Venus and the mortal Anchises. As a cousin of King Priam, he was one of the defenders of the doomed city of Troy. He was a respected Trojan hero, engaging the Greek heroes Diomedes, Idomeneus, and Achilles in single combat and living to tell the tale, with a little help from his mother, who never failed to get the ear of father Zeus with her feminine wiles.

When Troy fell, the gods instructed Aeneas to flee in search of a greater destiny. He managed to get out in the nick of time, with his disabled father and his household gods on his back, his wife Creusa and his son Ascanius (aka “Iulus”) by his side. Creusa was conveniently lost in the confusion, paving the way for new romance and marital alliance.

Aeneas and the Trojan remnant wandered the Mediterranean in search of a new home, protected by Venus but hounded by the anti-Trojan wrath of Juno. His story has noticeable parallels with Homer’s Odyssey, including a trip to the underworld.

When Aeneas was cast ashore by a storm near the African city of Carthage, he enjoyed the hospitality of Queen Dido, who became his lover. His comfortable life was interrupted by Mercury, the messenger of the gods, reminding him of his destiny elsewhere. Aeneas abandoned Dido, who, after a number of sublimely poetic tirades, committed suicide. This incident foreshadows the future enmity between Carthage and Rome, which barely withstood the invasion of Hannibal.

Once Aeneas arrived in Italy, his odyssey was over. But there were more heroic challenges to be faced. Aeneas forged an alliance with King Latinus, and was betrothed to his daughter Lavinia. Goaded by Juno, Lavinia’s rejected suitor, Turnus, declared war against Aeneas. The bloody Italian Wars ensued, culminating in Aeneas’ victory over Turnus in single combat. Aeneas founded the city of Lavinium, the cradle of Roman culture. The founding of Rome would be left to his descendants, Romulus and Remus.

When Aeneas died, his mother Venus successfully requested his deification. He became the minor deity Indiges, revered by Romans for many generations.

Despite his dastardly treatment of Dido, Aeneas was viewed as the prototype of the perfect Roman, selflessly devoted to his duty to the gods and to the glorious destiny of his people.